


Take me to your (orange) leader

by Ellienerd14



Series: Class Appreciation Week 2017 [4]
Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Feminism, Friendship, International Woman's Day, Other, Quill and Tanya and April, Quill is a badass, badass ladies of class, womans march
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-21 15:03:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9553832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: "I don't understand this. 'Take me to your leader?' I don't want meet this leader. Unless I can stab him." Quill looked at the pointed end hopefully."It's a joke." Tanya explained. "April said you wouldn't get it." She added, looking vaguely disappointed."I made my own anyway." Quill gestured to her own work. She'd written 'I am war itself' as big as she could. It certainly made a statement."Nice.""Is that your catchphrase?""It's a life motto."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my favourite thing ever.

"This is ridiculous." Quill looked up with mild interest at the two girls. They'd been whispering loudly to each other for most of lunch, crowded around April's phone screen.

"Tell me about it." Tanya replied, louder this time. "America actually sucks. Can't the aliens go attack that orange moron instead of us?"

April let out a giggle and Quill stood up. The girls looked up. April looked guilty but Tanya was only looked amused, still focussed on the phone screen.

"What are you looking at?" Quill held out her hand for the phone. April handed it to her with a polite smile. Quill wondered if it hurt that much, being so optimistic. (It hurt to look at.)

It took Quill a minute to get over the borderline offensive shade of yellow April had chosen for her phone case, to focus on the news story they were reading. It was about a (rightly described as 'orange') American who despite having a long list of crimes and issues, was being made leader.

"Why are you reading about this moron?" Quill asked, not bothering to hide her distaste.

April let out another small laugh. "That's how bad Trump is - even aliens hate him."

"We're protesting against him." Tanya explained. "Cause he's an asshole."

"How are you protesting?" Quill asked. Perhaps humans weren't as boring as she spend most of her times complaining about.

"What do you mean?"

Quill rolled her eyes. Despite being incredibly intelligent, Tanya missed the entire point of her question. Typical human.

"What strategies?" Quill asked, staring down at the ugly face of her new enemy. "Arson? Attacks? Murder?"

"We're not- well it's not that extreme." April said, looking shy. For a girl who had beat up the Shadow Kin, Quill thought April was too passive. Action was needed.

"It's just a protest." Tanya explained, opening a new webpage and showing it to Quill. "A march to show woman of all races in all countries standing together."

On Rhodia, a march would not be enough to protest someone that evil. (At least the Princes' up-itself species had some respect.) But Earth was only a level five planet and could barely develop phone batteries that lasted the whole day. A march showed potential at least. And it was a great way to raise an army for future attacks.

"This match? What does it involve?"

Tanya and April shared a look. They did the same when dealing with the Prince and Quill was vaguely offended.

"We take signs-" Tanya began.

"And stab this ridiculous man with it?" Quill interrupted. She wondered if the Prince would allow her to hit anyone with a sign. Perhaps she could ask his tall boyfriend to convince him. "There's hope for your race yet."

"We're not stabbing anyone." April said firmly. Quill sighed, feeling extremely disappointed. (It had been a long week trying to teach basic human physics to the basic human species.)

"Violence isn't the way to move forward." April said. Usually Quill would disagree without hesitation but there was something in her voice that even she couldn't miss.

"Sometimes it is the only way." Quill said. She thought back to her home planet where for years, her family had struggled to survive as the Rhodians had thrived. No amounts of protests could have changed things there. "There were no other choices."

"Were you really a freedom fighter?" Tanya asked. It had been a long time since Quill had heard her cause referred to with interest. With respect.

"I was their leader." Quill looked at the intrigued expressions of the girls who had always seemed too smart to be friends with Charlie. They looked like they cared. It had been too long since she was allowed to express her feelings without the Prince interrupting her. "We wanted our independence but the Rhodia ate up all the planets resources. For years - centuries! - my people suffered due to the Rhodians. We were poor and forced into the smallest of the only three continents which were survivable. Two years before the attack we started protesting. As our numbers grew we finally were able to take action. And then, just as we started believing we had a chance of winning our independence, the Rhodia caught us."

"And you were into a slave?" Tanya asked.

"You call it slavery?"

"It is slavery." Tanya said firmly. 

"I agree."

Quill felt her mouth twitch and turned to the board to avoid her smile being noticed.

"You have a good sense of justice then."

"Would you want to come with us on Saturday?" Tanya offered. "To the protest. It's a lot like freedom fighting."

"An army of women is something I'm willing to support." Quill turned back to the girls who were looking at with what could only be respect. She had missed that look. Perhaps Quill had an army of woman for longer than she had realised

* * *

 Charlie had been giving Quill strange looks all night. He seemed almost suspicious of her. (It was probably the fact that she looked happy.) She'd threatened to hit him with the angry sign she'd been making. It wasn't a threat she could go though with but he seemed to take the hint eventually and left her alone.

"Hey miss." Tanya called. They'd let theirselves in, which Quill appreciated. The amount of people who insisted on visiting got annoying quickly. (She'd dismantled their doorbell after a week.)

"Do you not lock the door?"

"I am war itself." Quill said with a shrug. "And I opened it earlier to throw an apple at the postman."

"Okay." April looked taken aback.

"We made you a protest sign." Tanya said, offering one of her bags to Quill.

"I don't understand this. 'Take me to your leader?' I don't want meet this leader. Unless I can stab him." Quill looked at the pointed end hopefully.

"It's a joke." Tanya explained. "April said wouldn't get it." She added, looking disappointed.

"I have my own anyway." Quill gestured to her own work. She'd written ' _I am war itself_ ' as big as she could. It certainly made a statement.

"Nice."

"Is that your catchphrase?" Tanya asked.

"It's a life motto." Quill answered seriously.

"I went with something a little more traditional." Tanya held up her sign. " _Fight_ _the_ _patriarchy_."

"I can read."

"I went with ' _girls aren't made of glass but your ego is_ '." April held up her sign next to Tanya's.

"Excellent." Quill said. "Shall we go into battle?"

"I never thought I'd get to fight the patriarchy with an alien." Tanya smiled. "This is like a dream I never knew I had come true."

"Well then," Quill smirked at her new army, "take me to your leader."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update brought to you by International Woman's Day.

The match wasn't quite as military as Quill would have liked. But she wasn't working with an army, although they had the forces to easily take down the very man they were protesting against. Quill had sharpened the edge of her sign just in case. Maybe the annoying thing controlling her wouldn't mind. Or the Arhn.

"Miss Quill?" Tanya had put on a jacket covered in pins. She held her sign up high. She seemed proud to fight the patriarchy. Quill liked that in a solider - pride made a better spur than survival.

"Yes?"

Tanya had the same look on her face when she had first brought her coffee. Quill liked that look - it meant something good was coming. (She hoped for battle plans.)

[Tanya held out a little piece of metal.](https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/274472044/back-in-stock-pro-cats-enamel-pin-with?utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_Punkypins_sfc_osa&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_custom1=0&utm_content=11732813&gclid=CKuqhaKHyNICFdQ_Gwod9JwOvA) It had a picture of cat - which made it a little harder for Quill not to smile. The only thing holding her back was the bright colours. She was yet to see a cat which was pink. Perhaps she should google it, although the website reminded her too much of the Prince. It was probably the Doctor's fault - he recommended the website in the first place.

"It's a gift." Tanya explained. "I figured you might not get a lot so..."

Quill took the small disk from her palm. It was rather cute and Quill did enjoy cats. It was pointy at the end too. Sharp things were always helpful. Quill already had a knife picked out if she got the Arhn out her head. It gave her something to look forward to (and a mild headache) whenever she thought about it.

"Thank you." Quill sounded less bitter than usual.

Tanya and April looked at her like she had turned into a Dalek.

Tanya snapped out of it first. "Anytime Miss Quill."

"What do I do with this?" Quill still hoped it was a weapon. But, as Tanya explained, it was only a decoration. The bright colours stood out on her black coat but Quill didn't care. Decorations could be lethal; it's why she owned pointed heels.

"An army of woman." Quill said, looking around. "And yet no attacks."

"We're stronger than we seem." April said. She looked strong already. She was the only person other than herself that Quill knew who could fight and win against the Shadow King.

"Never underestimate a woman with a purpose." Tanya added.

Quill smirked. It was different to smiling, so she didn't try to hide it. "I have never underestimated a woman." She gestured around them. "Look at our army. Who would dare underestimate this?"

"Men." Tanya and April said at the same time.

"Especially straight white males." Tanya added. "We had to fight for centuries to be respected."

"And we still don't get that today." April gestured around them. "It's why we're here. To be heard."

Quill wasn't sure what to say. Not being heard had a lot of meaning to it. Maybe that's why the Doctor had left them in 2016, to make a change the planet needed.

"Once a freedom fighter, always a freedom fighter." Quill looked at her army of two. They were looking at her like they was expecting a speech. Into battle indeed. "Your planet may be backwards and your people mildly offensive, but we will stand strong." Tanya and April were looking at her with respect. Again. "We are woman. And we are soldiers."

There was applause from a few other protesters.

"You should do that professionally." A woman with wild and curly hair and dark skin approached them. "I like your sign."

"It's her life motto." Tanya replied. "And it's kinda true."

"I could have answered that myself Miss Adeola." Quill couldn't bring herself to glare at Tanya. She nodded at the woman's sign. It had a lot of glitter but an interesting message.

"I like yours as well." Tanya said. The sign said 'I've met God, she's black.' The glitter was a little too much for Quill but if she judged every human, she wouldn't have enough hatred left for the people who mattered.

"Thanks." The woman smiled at all three of them. "Bill."

"I'm April." The brunette smiled. She was always doing that. "This is my friend Tanya and our teacher Miss Quill."

"Great." Bill seemed very positive. Quill wasn't sure how to feel. "You're a good teacher than, inspiring them."

Quill supposed inspiration worked both ways then. "I suppose."

"I have to meet my friend." Bill said. "Or he'll wander off and cares chaos. But it was great talking to you all." She hurried off.

"She was cool." April said. "I liked her shirt."

"Of course she was cool. She was a feminist." Tanya smiled excitably. "This is amazing."

"It could be improved by going with my suggestion." Quill said, looking at her sharpened sign. "I could do it quickly."

"Please, no stabbing." April said quickly. "You don't want to be arrested again."

"I've been in worst situations." Quill sighed and lowered her sign. Hopefully it's content was enough to show how dangerous she was.

"Then prison?" Tanya asked. "Really?"

Quill resisted the urge to laugh. Even if they didn't know her past; they knew her present. As if being ordered around by a stubborn prince who couldn't accept he had a kings duty of revenge to fulfil was fun.

"You should have seen parents evening." She answered dryly. "Explain more of these signs to me." She pointed at a nearby one, held by a woman in a hijab. (Quill had researched it after having to intervene - and then terrify - a group of boys picking on a Muslim student.) "Why would a woman belong in a kitchen?"

"Well, traditionally-" April started, only to be interrupted by Tanya.

"In a time before we had rights."

"Traditionally woman were supposed do all the housework and cooking." April finished.

"Ridiculous." Quill said. She followed it with serval swear words that didn't translate to English. "How has your race survived if they had horrible men and a need to recreate?" Tanya giggled to herself.

"It's dumb." April agreed. She dig her elbow into Tanya's side so she would stop laughing.

"Besides the Polish boyfriend does the cooking." Quill added. "He does quite a good job."

"Don't you call Matteusz by his name?" April asked.

"No one calls me by my name." Quill snapped without thinking it though. The students called her by her chosen name - a pretend one for a pretend human. The Prince knew it but refused to acknowledge her as more than just a species.

The silence that fell was heavy. "It hadn't occurred to me you had a different name." Tanya admitted quietly. The match around them was noisy but Quill was listening carefully. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Quill gritted her teeth together. "I'm sure the prince would have got more than that."

"What is it?" April asked. She looked, fearless as ever. "What is your real name?"

The question held more than just a name. Quill had locked away the brave warrior life that she had once led away. Andra'ath was more than just her name. It was who she was before she was made an unwilling slave. Andra'ath would only cause more questions. Quill wasn't sure if she was willing to answer them. Thinking of the past involved a lover that had only a bracelet as a memory. It had the highs of being a leader and the lows of her life before it. The Doctor had said a name had a lot of meanings.

Quill answered anyway. "My name was once Andra'ath." She didn't look at the girls. An army of two perhaps. But once Quill had an army of two hundred. In the past. A Past locked away. "Thank you for asking."

" _Andra'ath_." Tanya repeated. "It suits you more than just Quill."

" _Andra'ath_." April's pronunciation was better. "The name of a hero."

Quill blinked back tears. It had been so long. Too long, since someone had asked her name. She was - at least to an army of a small scale - a hero.

"Andra'ath was a hero. But Miss Quill is a slave." Quill strode ahead. "But I will still lead you into battle."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself a little emotional writing this. 
> 
> I don't write Quill that much but when I do I always enjoy it. She's so interesting in a morally grey way. 
> 
> I love the headcanon that Tanya asks Quill her name. Because she's more than just a teacher and bodyguard to them. Tanya respects her and I love that. This is the first time I've written it, so I hope I did it justice. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought! If you liked, please let me know and I'll try to write more Quill.

**Author's Note:**

> My favourite theme was feminism. One of the many things I love about Class is how literally every recurring female character is well developed and has a traits that make them a strong character. Whether it's Tanya's intelligence, April's strength and bravery or Quill's fearless fighting instincts, there's no denying these girls are badass.


End file.
